Live blog: iPhone 3G S launch day — The rolling rollout of the iPhone 3G S is under way. Apple's latest iPhone has been going on sale Friday at 7 a.m. local time in each time zone where it's available. — We've got a team of people covering the launch.

Thomas verdict: willful infringement, $1.92 million penalty — Jammie Thomas-Rasset's federal retrial concluded today as a jury found her liable for willful copyright infringement, awarding the record labels nearly $2 million in damages. — A new lawyer, a new jury, and a new trial were not enough to save Jammie Thomas-Rasset.

Steve Ballmer Is Making A Bad $10 Billion Bet — Steve Ballmer says he is willing to invest 5%-10% of Microsoft's operating income over the next five years on search. — That's a boatload of money. — Specifically, assuming Microsoft's operating income stays constant (it will likely grow), it's $5.5-$11 billion.

Microsoft: There Will Be “No New Console” — Today, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer indicated that the company would be releasing a new Xbox 360 in 2010, one featuring a built-in camera. That seemingly confirmed a new hardware configuration with the company's Project Natal built-in. Microsoft's official word?

iPhone 3G S: First peek under the hood — What makes the iPhone 3G S tick, and why is it the “fastest iPhone ever,” as Apple claims. Rapid Repair tears down the iPhone in Paris, providing some clues. — First, a quick glance at Apple's claims for the iPhone 3G S. The ad copy …

Google translates Persian — Today, we added Persian (Farsi) to Google Translate. This means you can now translate any text from Persian into English and from English into Persian — whether it's a news story, a website, a blog, an email, a tweet or a Facebook message.

iPhone Tethering: Do You Really Need it? — Apple iPhone fans may not have to wait too much longer to get Multimedia Messaging and tethering services from AT&T. A confidential source within AT&T says the carrier will offer MMS by mid-July with tethering to follow about two weeks later, according to Appmodo.

Why Doesn't Anyone Want a Blu-ray Player? — Blu-ray may have won the war against HD-DVD, but American consumers aren't exactly warming to the high-definition disc format. — According to a new Harris Poll, more U.S. homes have a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player compared to a year ago, but adoption is slow.

Iranian Traffic Engineering — The outcome of the Iranian elections now hangs in the balance and perhaps, also on the availability of the Internet (or at least Twitter and Facebook according to the US State Department). — Based on significant Internet engineering changes over the last week, the Iranian government seems to agree...

iPhone Vibrator App from MyPleasure.com — If you haven't already checked out MyPleasure.com's MyVibe app in the iPhone's app store, you might want to. Unlike many saucy apps out there, MyVibe is free - and fun. — Here's how it works: there's an on/off button that looks like many computer on/offs so it's easily recognizable.

Microsoft looks to give MSN fresh wings — Although most of the discussion of Microsoft's online business has been around Bing, Microsoft is also working on a fall revamp for MSN, its decade-old portal site. — Though often overlooked by Microsoft watchers, the MSN portal remains critically important to Microsoft's online business.

Windows 7: Microsoft vs. the PC Makers — A battle is shaping up over the pricing of the next version of Windows as both sides struggle to profit while hardware prices fall and sales stay flat — As Microsoft (MSFT) prepares to launch a new version of its Windows operating system this fall …

Amazon code release irrelevant, Kindle is still closed — Amazon attracted considerable media attention this week for publishing the source code of some of the components that are used in its popular Kindle reading device. The hype generated by the source release is mystifying and largely undeserved.

Google Flipper Is About To Jump Out Of The Water — Google is about to launch a new Google Labs project it calls Flipper, we've learned. No, it's not a dolphin. As you can see in the screenshot, it looks like the project is a more visual way to read Google News, or to “flip through it,” as it were.

How good is Microsoft's free antivirus software? — Microsoft has officially unveiled its long-awaited consumer antivirus offering. Formerly code-named “Morro,” it's now been christened Microsoft Security Essentials, and it will enter public beta testing next week.

Twitter-clueless Rep. Hoekstra is the new Ted Stevens — You can't make this stuff up: Representative Peter Hoekstra, a Republican from Michigan, set off a political-blog firestorm when he posted to his Twitter account on Wednesday that “Iranian twitter activity (is) similar to what we did in House …